Minnesota Sports Forum

It seems to me that once a team gets to a certain level of maturity and success, you do need more of a cerebral, psychologist type. Guys like Pop, Kerr, and Jackson (before he turned into a total flake) are well read, well rounded individuals that have perspectives on things other than basketball. I don't know enough about Stevens to say. May be he's like Pop and can mold greatness out of teams he didn't inherit.

Q12543 wrote:It seems to me that once a team gets to a certain level of maturity and success, you do need more of a cerebral, psychologist type. Guys like Pop, Kerr, and Jackson (before he turned into a total flake) are well read, well rounded individuals that have perspectives on things other than basketball. I don't know enough about Stevens to say. May be he's like Pop and can mold greatness out of teams he didn't inherit.

Well...Thibs does have a Masters in Counseling degree... ;)

Here is the upper half...separated into three tiers:

Top group: Pop, Stevens

Second level: Spoelstra, D'Antoni, Carlisle, Snyder, Fizdale, Van Gundy, Kerr

Third level: Stotts, Budenholzer, Brooks, Kidd, Casey, Vogel

I have Thibs in a group of coaches in the next tier...not the worst, but definitely not in the top half. I like Thibs' work ethic and knowledge of the game, but I see him as a terrible game manager (rotations, minutes allocation and time out management) and don't get why his teams consistently rank near the bottom of the league in 3-point attempts. I don't know for sure why his defense ranks near the bottom of the league, but I find it a stretch to blame a defense anchored by Butler, Taj, Teague and 2 athletic #1 picks on personnel. He has had some success in the past and is not in the Rambis tier, but I have some concerns he is not in step with the new NBA...I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see him as the right coach to help this immensely talented roster reach its potential (which I see as 55 wins this season).

Pop - because of consistency
Red Auerbach - because of championships (16)
Phil Jackson - championships while managing major egos
Pat Riley - Success with different styles of play

Milestone coaches
Don Nelson -for innovation
Jerry Sloan -for hard nose making player accountable
Bill Fitch -just for JimPete